


(The ghost of) your embrace

by Qwerty1



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, canon? who is that? idk her, the possession scene done right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:40:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25806760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qwerty1/pseuds/Qwerty1
Summary: In the middle of the chaos of trying to stop another apocalypse, Ben and Klaus accidently discovers Ben can possess people, but they don´t really have the oppertunity to think about this. Not until after everything, back in their original timeline, when they decide to test this new thing out.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 1
Kudos: 63





	(The ghost of) your embrace

About 3 years ago, Ben and Klaus sat just like this, facing each other on the floor, practicing a newly discovered element of Klaus' power. Back then, it had been making Ben solid, but they are past the stage of that requiring practice. This time around, they are sitting here for the purpose of discussing the subject of possession. They had discovered that that is possible by accidently, only a few days ago, but with everything going on they hadn't had time to address the matter further. It had been a complete gamble when Ben had used that knowledge to get into Vanya's mind and talk her down, but it had turned out to be a great decision cause it ended up saving the world. Now back at the Academy, in the time where they belong with the timeline intact and safe, Ben has brought the subject up again.

“Only if you want to, though. I mean, it´s your body, Klaus”, Ben tells him.  
Klaus waves his HELLO-hand nonchalantly, as if a gesture to say it´s no big deal.  
“Naw, it´s fine, Benny. You deserve to, you know, experience the world”, he says, with a smile.  
“Really?” Ben asks, his face completely lighting up with excitement.  
Klaus nods. From what he remembers from the brief, accidental possession back at the headquarter of his cult, the whole experience was not very nice, but this is not just any other old ghost. This is his brother, who he loves, who has spent basically every second since his death following Klaus around and helping him, making sure Klaus is literally still alive himself today. Klaus is nothing if not self-aware, and very aware he can be a lot to handle, even with three years of sobriety. The least Ben deserves for having kept up with his bullshit is a large medal, and if Klaus will be able to let him experience the experience of being alive again, then he will. Klaus is finally able to do something that means a lot for someone he loves, and that is a chance he is going to take, may it be a little uncomfortable!

He rises from the floor, rubbing his palms together, stretching his limbs. Ben slowly stands up as well, looking both excited and a little hesitant. They stand there for a moment, awkwardly, looking at each other.  
“Do we just… do this?” Ben asks awkwardly.  
“Wait! We should establish some ground rules!” Klaus exclaims.  
“Alright, shoot!”  
“Number one: don´t touch the hair! I really like this look.”  
Ben nods.  
“Noted. Just be glad you already shaved that horrible beard, if not I might have just taken that into my own hands”, the ghost says with a playful smile.  
“In that case you would´ve seen your possession privileges immediately revoked”, Klaus quickly retorts.  
“It would have been worth it, that beard was horrible!”  
“Shut up, Casper.”  
“As you wish.”

They fall into semi-awkward silence again, and it becomes clear to Klaus he is using all this bickering as a stalling method.  
“We should probably just go ahead. Figure things out as we go along”, he suggests.  
Ben nods.  
“Fair enough.”  
And then he dives forward, head first, and a cold, quite terrifying chill passes through all of Klaus´ body, leaving him just shaking violently for a second before settling down. He blinks, finding his own hands being lifted without his say, and he is looking at his own palms. If he focuses he can actually tell Ben´s consciousness apart from his own, a slight spark of something in his head that does not really belong there. He does not remember the experience being quite this unsettling, but once again it was only on accident the last time, and Ben´s spirit just sort of passed through his body rather than staying in it. He is still cold, a cold that seems to radiate from within him, and he is getting aware of a growing nausea. His body, under the control of someone else, walks forward, and his hand reaches out and touches the soft fabric of the bed sheets. The something in his mind that is Ben flickers in appreciation of the feeling of the texture, and Klaus uses this is an incentive and force his slowly growing panic away and down. This is Ben, Ben would never hurt him.

Right? Right?

He suddenly wants to vomit, and he can no longer stop the panic from taking over. He hears Ben´s voice, then, in his very own mind. Strange.  
“Klaus? You doing okay there?”  
“No”, he says, out loud, forcing his lips to move and words to come out.  
The spark in his mind shifts from slight concern to fear.  
“Okay, don´t worry, hold on.”  
The next thing that happens is almost even scarier: the coldness, the strange energy and does not really belong in his body, seems to curl in on itself, tighter, until it shoots right out of him, like a spring being coiled back and then released. Ben appears next to him, in a cloud of blue energy, and Klaus can´t stop his body from completely giving out to the ordeal it has been through, crumbling to the floor. Fortunately, Klaus is now a very well-practiced medium, so much that making Ben solid is now completely effortless. Ben catches him under his arms, bringing the two of them safely down to the floor, where the ghost quickly discovers Klaus no longer seems able to support his own body, quickly adapting to this by propping Klaus up so he is leaning against his side and wrapping an arm around his shoulders, all while his eyes are wide in panic and his gaze flickers to the door, wondering if he should perhaps try to alert another of their siblings.

“Klaus? Hey, Klaus! Look at me, come on!” Ben tries, voice worried and scared.  
Klaus wills his body to start to function again, starting with wiggling his fingers and blinking his eyes. The whole thing was terrifying, honestly: he was all cold and powerless, and even now his body feels sort of weak, a white noise buzzing in his ears. He manages to turn his head towards Ben, releasing a groan.  
“I feel so violated...”, he whimpers, and Ben immediately looks like he is going to cry.  
Klaus does know many things about ghosts, but weather they can cry or not are not included in those.  
“I´m sorry, Klaus, truly so sorry.”  
Klaus only nods, not knowing what to say at all.  
“Can I give you a hug?” Ben asks then, which is a little odd considering they are already sitting very close together, but Klaus also appreciates the level of respect and consideration the question holds.  
He swallows hard, suddenly feeling like he is going to cry.  
“Yes, please.”

Ben nods, shifting them around, so Klaus can curl up in his arms, and then he starts to cry. He doesn´t know why, he just feels so drained, so scared, and Ben just quietly strokes his hair. He absolutely gets why the general public would probably be repulsed by the thought of a dead person holding and comforting them, but then again the general public probably aren´t mediums and they have probably also never met Ben. The touch is cold, of course it is - the boy doesn´t have any circulation -, but it´s not ice cold either. The first hugs the two shared after Ben´s death, nearly 17 years after the ghost last had physical contact with anyone, Klaus kept freaking out because of the lack of pulse and heartbeat, but Ben himself never seemed to get tired of hugs after so long without them, and eventually Klaus just got used to having his head against a heartbeat-less, slightly chilly chest. It just become a normal occurrence, just his dead brother bumping their shoulders together or giving him a quick victory hug after a job or decision well done.

“At least we know that´s a big no, now”, Ben says against the top of his head.  
Klaus sniffles.  
“I´m sorry, bro”, he says.  
Ben stills, making a suprised noise.  
“Sorry? What do you possibly have to be sorry for?”  
Klaus takes a deep breath.  
“Cause… Look, Benny. you are dead-”  
“Really? I hadn´t noticed!”  
“Hush, I´m not finished! What I mean is, you are dead, and because of that there are so many things you can´t do, you can´t experience, even with my powers, and if you´re gonna follow me around and watch me continuously fuck up my life, I feel like I owe you whatever I can for the trouble of following my useless self around and keeping me alive”, Klaus rambles, sitting back a little from the embrace in order to be able to wipe the tears from his eyes.

Ben flinches, in lack of a better term, lifting a finger in the air to silence his brother´s heartbroken ramblings.  
“No, you hush! First thing first: Klaus, you have been sober for three years, you helped save the world twice, I think that qualifies as the opposite of useless.”  
“Well, actually, I only helped the first time around, the second time I just-”  
This time, Ben makes a halfhearted move to place the finger he´s been holding up over Klaus´ mouth, Klaus ducking his head away but letting out a snorting noise.  
“My point, dear brother, is that you helped save the world! And my second point...”  
Ben pauses, and Klaus can tell he wants to continue.  
“What?” he questions.  
Rather than responding, Ben gets up from the floor, grabbing his arm and gently pulling him up with him.  
“What-?” Klaus starts, taken by suprise.  
“Come on, I´m gonna tell you a secret”, Ben announces.

Klaus nods, wiping his eyes again, still a little shaken after the whole ordeal. Ben gently guides him over to the bed, and when the ghost climbs up onto the bed Klaus follows his example. He lays down with his head on the pillow, slowly and carefully, Ben tucking the soft, fluffy duvet around him before climbing in under the covers himself. Ever since Klaus figured out how to make him solid most of the time, he has explained how the living population seriously underrates such a thing like a soft duvet or a really fluffy blanket, and Klaus can only agree on that. There´s another moment of comfortable silence before Ben speaks, in a whisper.

“I´m not here because of you, because I feel obligated to take care of you or something. I… I stay a ghost because I´m scared. Scared of what comes next, scared of that light everyone always talks about.”  
“You serious? That shit´s real?”  
Ben snorts.  
“Oh, yes. And it´s scary.”  
The ghost shakes his head, and Klaus grabs his hand in his, cause in his own experience someone holding your hand is way more comforting than any words can express. Ben stares at their joined hands.  
“So, if it´s not too much of a trouble, I would want to hang around you a bit more”, he confesses quietly.  
“Of course”, Klaus says immediately, without hesitation.  
Ben smiles, and Klaus finds himself curling in against his brother, feeling like he needs comfort himself as well, some uneasiness still lingering in his limbs. He has no idea how, but Ben seems to notice this, hugging him, rubbing his back. The touch is slightly chilly, clearly colder than a living person´s temperature, but it holds so much comfort that that doesn´t matter.

“Hey, it´s okay, shhh, it´s okay. You are safe with me. You know that right? Klaus?”  
Klaus nods against Ben´s shoulder, sniffling again.  
“I know, I do, I´m just a… A bit shaken, you know?” he tries to explain.  
“I´m sorry”, Ben says again.  
Klaus lifts his head, enough to peer at his face  
“And also, I don´t know, I just… If you can possess me, than what´s stopping the other ghosts from doing the same?”  
Ben hugs him tighter.  
“I won´t let them”, he says.  
“Really? What are you gonna do?”  
Klaus says it like a kind of joke, regressing to the habit of deflection as a way of deal with terror. Ben, however, was not joking in the slightest.  
“I´ll tell you! If any of them gets too close, I´ll yeet them into the next century!”  
Klaus´ first reaction might be to snort, smiling where his head is tucked under Ben´s chin, but the truth is that the words hits way harder than just for amusement: the knowledge that someone, especially someone he loves, is willing to protect him from things that scare him, is a powerful, emotional thing. Especially if the person in question is someone who has all the reasons in the world to be angry with him, someone who has followed him around for the last 17 years and been there for all his great mistakes. In the end, there´s just one thing he can think of to say that will explain this, and there´s not one ounce of deflection in the statement.

“I love you.”  
Ben has gone completely still against him for a second, and something tells Klaus the ghost would have drawn a sharp intake of breath in suprise if he had been physically able to do so. Instead, he is just quiet, for a short second.  
“I love you too, you amazing mess of a person”, comes the reply.  
“...Thanks, I guess.”  
“You are very welcome.”  
Klaus smiles, fondly. Yes, he does feel safe.


End file.
